Death's Castle
by SilverstarsEbonyskies
Summary: AU After Sam and her mom get into a car crash, her mother gets into a coma. Sam would do anything to save her. After a brush with the supernatural, her life is changed forever. Complete Summary Inside
1. Chapter 1

Hi! This is SilverstarsEbonyskies! Since that's really long, just call me by my initials or something… Anyways, I came up with this when I had a little touch of insomnia, that seems to be the way my best ideas come… Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I fail to see the point in writing these. If I were to write something called FANFICTION, then I wouldn't own what I'm basing the fanfiction on would I?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Death's Castle

(Drama/Romance)

Summary: (alternate universe) Samantha Manson was in a car crash. She survived with minor injuries, but her mother barely hangs onto life. Sam would do anything to prevent her mother from dieing, but when she comes in contact with the supernatural; her whole life is turned upside down. This is a tale of desperation, friendship, tyranny, mistakes, tortured pasts, and love.

-----------------------

A small black car sped down the road in the inky blackness of the night. Its headlights were turned off and it taillights were smashed badly, fragments of glass hanging off the edges for dear life. The full moon was obscured by the heavy rain clouds that heralded a storm to come. Out of nowhere, a huge moving van crashed into the side of the car at an intersection. The car, badly dented on the driver's side, flipped over and landed heavily on its roof. The van sped away, not even stopping to consider the lives of the ones in the car that it had potentially ruined. Rain fell and lightning filled the sky as the wail of an ambulance signaled its arrival.

-------------------------------

Bright light filtered through the glass of the small window and hit the room's occupant in the face. Her eyes fluttered open, revealing them to be an odd purplish shade. All she could see was white. Then she remembered. Fear slammed into her, widening her eyes and making her scramble out of bed. In the back of her mind, she noticed that she wore one of those blue hospital gowns. She scrunched up her nose as the nauseating smell of the typical hospital reached it. A nurse, hearing the noise, rushed into the room as fast as her skinny legs could carry her.

"Samantha Manson, you're awake!" she exclaimed in surprise.

Samantha cringed, obvious dislike in her voice. "Please, call me Sam."

"Well, Sam, do you remember why you are here?" The nurse leaned toward her, as if that would help her speak.

Sam concentrated for a moment, her fuzzy memory taking some time to reassemble itself. "The car…my mom and I were in a car crash when we were going to Amity…"

"Yes, you are in Amity Park Hospital." She confirmed.

"Can I see my mother?" Sam looked at the nurse expectantly.

"Well, um…"

"Can I see my mother?" She repeated impatiently. She had an itching feeling in the back of her mind…

"You see…about your mother…" the nurse fidgeted uncomfortably.

"She's okay, right?" Sam inquired nervously, the fear overtaking her again. "I mean, if I got away without much damage…then she has to be fine, right?" Sam's voice reflected desperation. She felt close to tears, though there were none in her eyes.

"I'll get the doctor." The nurse blurted before she bolted away.

Sam sank back down on top of the bed. She felt like the world was falling under her feet, but she refused to believe that her mother wasn't alright.

She had to be.

A tall weedy man in a white coat hurried in with a small stack of papers in his hands. He stood in front of Sam and fiddled with the paper clip holding the packet together. At last, he sighed and stuck out his hand to shake, as if resigned to the fact that this problem was not going to go away.

"I'm Doctor Dimaric"

"Sam," she replied while shaking his hand.

"You know, it's a miracle you're as well off as you are."

"Huh?" She said, thrown off a bit at the change of subject.

"You escaped with only minor bruises and cuts and a small bump to the back of your head that didn't even cause a concussion. With the damage done to the car, I would have thought you to at least have a few broken bones."

"H-how's my mother?" Sam broke in, she was in no mood to hear about how supposedly "lucky" she was.

"Ah, well, the car was practically decimated when-" he was cut off.

"Just tell me," Sam demanded levelly. She needed to hear that her mother was alright.

He sighed then spoke, "You might want to sit back down." He took another breath, "You see, your mother is in a coma. Nurses are working around the clock to keep her stabilized, and there's a good chance she won't make it." Another breath, "Even if she stays stabilized without too much help…We have no way of knowing if and when she would wake out of her coma. It could be weeks, months, years, or never."

Sam's mind came to an abrupt halt. From the doctor's explanation, her mother was either going to die or simply never wake up. Her mind tried its utmost hardest to reject the truth, even though she knew in her heart that she would have to face it.

It was true, no matter how hard she tried to deny it.

The doctor carefully laid her shell-shocked self back in bed and pulled the curtains shut to block the light that now seemed to glare instead of shine. He left the room, closing the door behind him. It could have been minuets or hours later when she finally fell asleep, Sam couldn't tell in the feigned twilight of the room. She slipped into an uneasy slumber riddled with her fears and remembered dreams of her nightmares at the past she would rather forget.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Redone! This chapter has been edited because the mistakes in it were glaring at me. Unfortunately, this chapter still feels a little off to me.

For those who are wondering, Danny will be in this fic…you'll see.

Another thing…my writing is far from perfect, so any suggestions would be appreciated. Encouragement is always nice too, but criticism will hopefully help me to improve.

Please review for the sake of whatever sanity I have left!


	2. Chapter 2

I'm back with Ch. 2! I hope you like it.

First, a thank you to the people who reviewed. I appreciate that you took the time to review my story. I hope to keep on seeing you throughout the story, and I hope you enjoy this next installment.

Disclaimer: I do not in any way, shape or form own Danny Phantom or its characters. The only thing I own is my creativity and original ideas. I'm broke anyway, so you wouldn't get anything by suing me.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Death's Castle

Ch.2

Sam slipped slowly out of unconsciousness and back into the world of the awake.

'It was just a nightmare,' she told herself, 'The car never crashed, and we are in a hotel in Amity.'

Her efforts were futile, and she knew it even before she opened her eyes. When she did, she was still in the accursed hospital room. She almost broke out into tears despite the fact that she knew she was trying to fool herself. She took a moment to compose herself before glanceing over to the window to find it was truly night now. Not a slit of light broke though the curtains. Sam quietly got out of bed and crept over to the door. She slowly turned the doorknob, eased the door open, and peered outside. Seeing the coast was clear she went out into the hall and closed the door behind her.

'My mother's probably in ICU, I'll just wander around and hope I find it…'

She whipped her head around as she heard a group of nurses chatting somewhere to her right. So she went left. She didn't want to bump into a nurse and be told that 'she wasn't well enough' or 'you'll just have to visit her in the morning'.

It continued like that for a few more minuets; Sam walking wherever she could, trying to avoid the nurses and doctors. Eventually, she found it. She opened one of the heavy doors and walked cautiously inside. She expected for there to be dozens of people bustling around inside, but no one was there.

'That's odd, you'd think someone would be here…someone could go critical at any time…'

Sam pulled her arms around herself to ward off the sudden chill. She warily looked around her, she felt like someone was watching. Her eyes traveled to each of the clipboards that hung next to the doors. Finally, at the end of the hall, she found what she was looking for. Taking a deep breath, Sam steadied herself and reached for the handle. She pulled the door open.

Her mother looked horrible. She was whiter than the sheets and was thinner than could be healthy. Her left arm and legs were in a cast and bandages were everywhere. Sam had to fight to not burst into tears just by looking at her. She sat into the chair next to her mother's bed and the door and held her hand that wasn't in the cast.

'First what happened at home, and now this?' Sam thought bitterly, 'Does God amuse himself by messing with my life?'

The temperature dropped noticeably lower, to the point where Sam could see her breath.

'What the heck? Did the air conditioner go berserk?'

She laid her mother's hand back on the bed to curl her arms around herself. When that wasn't enough, she drew her knees up to her chest. As she looked around, she started to think.

'I haven't seen a single nurse or doctor since I stepped into the ICU ward.' Her neck prickled, making her head dart around in paranoia. 'And weren't nurses supposed to be working around the clock to get my mother stabilized? At least one should have stayed here to check on her…something's not right here.'

She felt a slight breeze blow past her.

'The window and door are closed! How can there be a breeze?'

Sam looked about the room, trying to pinpoint what was wrong. And then she found it. On the other side of the bed were two neon green eyes. They glowed fiercely as she stared at them in disbelief. She was now beyond coherent thought. She swung her head towards the hall as she heard echoing footsteps. Then she swung her head back, and to her ever growing surprise, the eyes had disappeared, along with the biting cold. The footsteps stopped right outside her door. The handle turned and she found herself face to face with the nurse from this morning.

"Oh, Sam!" she exclaimed, "What are you doing here?"

If Sam had been in a more normal state of mind, she would have thought it would have been excruciatingly obvious why she was there, but since she was not in a normal state of mind, she said this.

"It was so cold, and there was no one here, and I saw these eyes…"

If she had been in a normal state of mind, she would have slapped herself.

"Um, here honey, why don't we get you back to your room?" The nurse apparently thought Sam was edging onto the insane.

Sam gathered enough presence of mind, before they left the ICU ward, to think, 'Maybe I am going crazy.'

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I give you three guesses as to who owned those 'neon green eyes'…

So, how was it? I would love to hear feedback from you! (I'm sorry if it seems like I'm moving a little slow in the story…) I would love criticism, comments, ideas, encouragement, pretty much anything.

Please review!


	3. Chapter 3

And I'm back for the third chapter in the world of my musings!

Once again, I thank those who were kind enough to review…and some even added my story to their favorites! I hope that this chapter won't disappoint.

Disclaimer: The only things these are good for is comic relief, as I think that it would be quite obvious that I don't own the show Danny Phantom or its characters.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Death's Castle

Ch.3

As soon as the nurse, whose name Sam still hadn't bothered to find out, placed Sam inside her proper room, she hurried back out again to talk to the doctor. They were right outside her door, so it wasn't hard to get the gist of what they were saying.

"I think…stress getting to her…should relax." That was the nurse's annoyingly high voice, slightly muffled by the closed door.

The weedy doctor's equally weedy voice drifted though the door, "Agree…call her father…take her home"

Sam forgot to breathe in her horrified shock. _They were going to call her father…_

**Flashback**

A little girl with black hair and amethyst eyes lay in a crumbled heap, too scared and in pain to even whimper. She felt like needles were piercing her skin, repeatedly jabbing and scratching against it. In some places, she was too numb to feel pain. She could taste her tears as only one word filled her mind.

_Why?_

A menacing figure stepped out of the shadows, a sturdy piece of wood held firmly in his grasp. The last thing the little girl registered before slipping into the welcoming arms of unconsciousness was the heavy smell of alcohol, the bruising force of the wood and the sharp pain of jagged splinters entering her fragile skin.

**End Flashback**

Sam's head shot up as she heard the doctor enter the room.

"Sam, I'm going to call your father to pick you up tomorrow…I think it would be better for you not to stay in this hospital too much longer."

She just nodded, not trusting her voice.

"Good," he was about to leave when he said something else, "The nurse will be bringing you some clothes shortly." At her questioning gaze, he explained, "There was a duffel bag in the trunk of your car, the bag was in ruins, but most of the clothes were fine."

Right after the doctor left, the nurse came in and set a pile of clothes next to Sam on her bed. The nurse smiled at her, then went across the hall to care for another patient. Sam stood up and closed the door, her hand lingering on the doorknob as she sighed and considered her options. In the end, there were only two reasonable courses of action.

'I could stay here and let my father take me away, or I could run. Neither of them sound too appealing, but I don't ever even want to see that excuse for a human again.'

So she got dresses in some of her standard clothes: Dark jeans, purple shirt, black sweatshirt, purple socks, and black sneakers. Then for the second time that night, she would sneak out to see her mother, probably for the last time. It was a bit easier this time, seeing as she knew which way to go now; and it took much less time.

When she was only a corridor away, the same nameless nurse spotted her. She clumsily ran up to her and said:

"I'm sorry, but visiting hours are over, and I think it's best if you don't see your mother right now."

Sam mentally swore.

"So if you don't mind," the nurse continued, "I'll take just take you back to your room." She grabbed Sam's arm.

"Yes I do mind!" Sam snapped. Yanking her arm out of the nurse's grasp, she ran down the hall and hurriedly shut the open doors behind her and locked them.

This time, she was almost expecting the cold, and she was eerily calm as she walked down the corridor, where once again; no one was there. The vapor of her breath swirled around her, and her footsteps echoed forlornly in the emptiness.

She was still calm as she opened the door and stared into those same green eyes. But when she turned on the light, her calm disappeared. She had been expecting a figment of her imagination that would vanish when the light turned on, not to see the apparition that the eyes belonged to.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Darn it," the nurse said as she heard a scream from inside, "I knew something bad was going to happen if I let her in there again."

She tried once more to pull the door open, with no more success than the last ten times she tried, much to her chagrin. Whipping out her cell phone, she called for help.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Okay! How was it? I know we still didn't she much of Danny, but we'll see him a lot in the next chapter, kay? I'll try to get the next on up soon.

Please review for the state of my mental health! (Just press that blue button down there…)


	4. Chapter 4

Alright. I have come up with the fourth chapter. Sheesh, an update once a day, I'm on a roll! (My muse is happy)

Once again, I thank all of those who reviewed, especially divinedragon7, who has reviewed for every single chapter of this story I've posted so far.

Oh, and if Danny seems OOC, he's supposed to be, and there's good reason for it too. (You'll find out later on). One more thing, this is a bit of an explanation chapter…kinda…

Disclaimer: Oh goody, back here again. I have never, don't, and probably will never own Danny Phantom for as long as I will live. (sob)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Death's Castle

Ch.4

After Sam screamed, she just stood there, staring in disbelief at the seemingly impossible phenomenon which to tell the truth, just looked bored. In front of her was what resembled a teenaged boy, maybe around sixteen or so, which meant that he was only a year older than Sam…or at least he looked like it. He had unnaturally white hair and the same glowing green eyes she had seen earlier that night. He was wearing black jeans, shoes, and a long sleeve shirt as well as odd silver colored gloves on his hands. And he was floating. He raised an eyebrow at her awestruck expression.

"Are you just going to gawk at me?"

Sam broke out of her stupor and gasped, "Wha…What are you?"

"I am the Grim Reaper, servant to Death," He droned. It sounded like he'd recited it more times than he cared to count.

"Aren't you supposed to wear a black robe and carry a scythe?" She asked skeptically.

He narrowed his eyes in annoyance. "That was the last Reaper," He said irritably.

"Oh…"

The fact that there was a Grim Reaper freaked her out enough, but now to know that there were other ones? So Sam's reaction wasn't really unexpected.

"I must be dreaming." She said flatly.

He smirked, "No you're not, and I don't recommend that…"

He was cut off by an "Ouch" from Sam.

He sighed. "Never mind."

"I must be insane."

"Not that either…at least I'd hope I wasn't talking to a lunatic."

She crossed her arms and fumed silently, still not sure what to make of this bizarre situation.

"While this was amusing, I should probably so my job now," With that said, he reached into a pocket in his jeans and took out a piece of folded paper. He unfolded it, looked at it, and then said, "So she's your mother…"

Realization struck Sam like lighting, and horror washed across her face like a tidal wave.

"No!" she shouted, desperation coating her voice, "You can't take her away!"

His facial expression didn't change except for a brief flash of sympathy.

"It's my job, I have to."

Of course, even though she was usually perceptive, Sam was too distraught to notice.

"You're heartless!" she exclaimed. She threw her arms around her mother and cried her heart out, letting all of her distress and pain leak out of at last in a long overdue release.

His eyes saddened momentarily before resuming his normal countenance of indifference as he glanced toward the paper in his hand again. His eyes widened and he stared.

"I haven't seen one of these in a while," he muttered. Raising his head to look at the weeping girl, he said hesitantly, "There is one thing you can do."

Sam's tearstained face shot up to stare at him intensely, "What?" she demanded.

"It's only temporary, and it can be very dangerous."

"Just tell me!"

He sighed and continued, "You can temporarily take her place." He paused to let the idea sink in, "You can replace your soul for hers."

She nodded, signaling for him to continue.

"You would be in a coma while the temporary replacement is in effect. Your mother would be the subject of a "miracle", and would wake up in a few hours with almost no injury…but as I said before, it's only temporary, and there are risks. You would have to go back eventually, and then your mother would have to die," He looked thoughtful, "There were the rare few people over the past few millennia who have managed to cheat Death, for either themselves or others…but that hasn't happened since the crowning…"

"How long would it last?"

He shrugged. "It changes each time. It depends on the strength of each of the souls that participate."

"What are the risks?"

He was about to reply when they heard the loud noise of the two doors to the ICU ward bang open.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Finally!" the nurse yelled as she ran with the ever growing group of people to the end of the hall.

'Hopefully I can stop whatever is happening in there.' She thought as she grabbed a hold of the doorknob. Then she twisted…

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Whew…do you like? Do you not? Will you let me know? Please? I didn't really like it as much as the third chapter, but oh well…at least it will get more exciting later on.

Anyways, I hope you liked the latest installment of Death's Castle!

Please review!


	5. Chapter 5

Okay, this is the fourth day in a row that I've posted a chapter! I seriously can't believe I'm writing so fast. (For me anyway) Hope you like it!

A thanks to the reviewers and those who deemed my story good enough to put it on favorites or alerts.

For some reason, this chapter is a bit more…humorous…(or weird…whichever way you'd like to think)

Disclaimer: This story is fanfiction. The whole concept of fanfiction is to write a story based on something else that is owned by someone else. I do not own Danny Phantom, therefore I write fanfiction.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Death's Castle

Ch.5

"Darn it!" the nurse screeched, and she promptly threw a temper tantrum more suited to kids under the age of ten. The crowd stared.

"Sorry," she apologized sheepishly, and they continued preceded to ram the door.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"That's not going to hold much longer," He said to Sam, who had just locked the door. It was shuddering in its frame.

"Just tell me the risks,"

"There isn't enough time to explain, but there is a chance you could lose your mind or soul and never get them back."

She bit her lip, and she glance at her mother.

"Hurry," He prompted, his gaze directed at the door.

She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders, saying, "I'll do it."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The nurse heard something snap in the doorknob, and the door slammed open.

"Yes!" she shouted, jumping up in the air. When she registered what she was seeing, however, her jubilee went right out the window, replaced by disbelieving shock.

A strange teenage looking thing was floating in front of Sam! The thing flung its hand toward the girl, somehow causing a bright flash that nearly blinded the nurse. When she could see again, the thing had disappeared, and Sam collapsed on the floor.

The nurse screamed…really loud.

A doctor in the crowd asked another "Is the sedative ready?"

"Yep, but weren't we preparing it for that other girl?"

The first doctor shrugged.

The screaming abruptly stopped and she was carried out of the room and set on the floor in the hall while two doctors entered the room and inspected Sam. The two doctors, who happened to be twins, stood back up and faced the crowd. One cleared his throat and began to speak, in an unfortunately whiny voice which would make any normal person cringe.

"We have determined that…"

"this unfortunate girl is…" the other spoke.

"in a coma…"

"much like her mother's."

"However, the girl…"

"Is stabilized."

They walked out of the room and joined the crowd, which had now turned to watch the nurse drowsily wake up.

"What happened?" the nurse questioned groggily as she sat up.

"You fainted after you looked into the room," an anonymous doctor lied.

"What did you see?" Another nurse asked curiously.

The nurse paled and said shakily, "T...There was…this thing…It was like a human…but its eyes…they glowed! And his hair was white…it did something to Sam and it disappeared!"

The crowd was astonished. Had Sam infected the nurse with her craziness? Or was it the truth? They weren't able to look into the room, but they had witnessed the flash of light. Maybe they were all going crazy?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Swirls of green floated and danced in green tinted air, and barren purple land stretched as far as they eye could see. There was no sun, but the place itself glowed, giving an ethereal twilight. A hole appeared in the sky, a swirling portal, which a figure dropped out of and onto the ground below. It was the Reaper, with Sam's soul in his hand, in a form of bright condensed light.

He sighed in relief. 'That was close.'

He let the soul go and it hovered in the air, slowly transforming back into the appearance it had assumed on earth, but with no body this time…she was composed of pure spirit energy. Once she had transformed, she blinked wildly, trying to get rid of her disorientation.

He looked slightly surprised.

"What?"

"You're able to completely solidify," He answered, a puzzled look now on his face, "Most spirits can't for at least a year."

Now it was Sam's turn to look puzzled as she pointed behind him and asked, "Who's that?"

"Huh?" He asked while turning around.

"BEWARE!"

The Reaper raised an eyebrow.

"For I am…THE BOX GHOST!"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hee..heee…this chapter was so weird…oh well. It's a bit shorter too..

How did you like it? Suggestions? Comments? Questions?

Please review!


	6. Chapter 6

Hey, I'm back! Sorry I missed a day, but I had so many things to do…So I hope this chapter is good enough to make up for it.

By the way, you finally know what the title means. (Mostly) And this chapter is probably going to be the last one with wackiness in it for awhile…but I'm not particularly sure.

Thank you to those who reviewed and I hope you'll like this chapter.

Disclaimer: I'd be beating a dead horse if I said I didn't own Danny Phantom…you should know that by now.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Death's Castle

Ch.6

"Box Ghost?" Sam echoed incredulously, "What kind of name is that?"

"It is mine! For I am…THE BOX GHOST!"

The Reaper rolled his eyes and explained to Sam, "This is the Box Ghost, one of the weakest and most annoying of the ghosts here."

"Hey!" the Box Ghost replied, "I resent that! For I am-."

Sam cut in, "YOU'RE THE FRICK'N BOX GHOST, WE KNOW ALREADY!"

"Correct," he said, oblivious to her anger, "Ruler of all things cardboard and square!"

"Arghh…He's so stupid!" Sam grumbled complainingly under her breath.

The corner of the Reaper mouth quirked up before he spoke, "What are you doing here?"

"You are trespassing on my domain!"

"You don't have a domain. You live in a cardboard box." He pointed out, amused.

"Fine…" the Box Ghost grumbled before he flew away.

"So," Sam started after she had regained a semblance of mental sanity, "What's your name?"

"I already told you, I'm the Grim Reaper."

She shook her head. "I mean a name like mine. I'm called Sam. You must have been alive at some point, so what was your name?"

"I did have a name once," he said in with a far off look in his eye, "I think it was Daniel," he shuddered, "But I didn't, and don't like it."

"Then your name's Danny." She said decisively.

"Huh?" He looked taken aback at first, but he slowly smiled, "Danny," He said, as if trying it out, "I like it."

"Good." She looked around, "So…what are we supposed to do?"

"I'll need to take you to the Castle first."

"Castle?"

"Death's Castle." Danny clarified.

"So Death is a ghost?"

"Yeah…you could say he's my boss, but it's a bit more complicated than that."

"Death owns a castle?"

"Pretty much…but it's not just _a_ castle, it's _the_ Castle. Death lives in the Eternity Castle, and is the ruler of this place and the real world."

Sam tried to wrap her mind around the thought, then asked, "How do we get there?"

Grinning, he explained, "By flying, the best part of being dead."

Danny held out his hand. "Hold on, I'm going to give you a crash course in flying."

When she grabbed his hand, he started rising up in the air, taking Sam with him.

"This is great and all, but how is this going to teach me to fly," Sam pointed out after Danny stopped.

"Like this," He replied, letting her go.

A little scream ripped from her lips and she screwed her eyes shut. An odd feeling coursed through her body. When she didn't feel the bruising impact of the ground hit her, she opened her eyes and gasped. She was flying. A smirking Danny flew up to her.

"Good job," he complimented, "Most have to almost hit the ground before they get the hang of it."

"You've done this before!"

"Well," he said a bit sheepishly, with a hint of a grin, "I did say it was crash course…and you need to want to fly enough to do it the first time. This is the easiest way I've found so far."

"You almost got me!...," she looked confused. "What would have happened if I had hit the ground?"

"Just because you can't die doesn't mean you can't feel pain, although we are more resistant to heat and cold."

"Weird."

"I know, but you'll get used to it. Anyways, we need to get to the Castle. Follow me."

So they flew, the landscape under them never seeming to change, the same purple ground and the swirling green sky. After Sam had almost gotten complete control over flying, she spotted a few blurry shapes flying toward them.

"Hey Danny?"

"Yeah?"

"Who are they?"

Danny narrowed his eyes and swore under his breath. "They weren't supposed to be back yet!" he agonized.

"Who are they?"

"Dash and his mindless idiots." He spat out.

"Dash?"

"The ghost of the typical idiotic jock/bully." He grimaced, "He's always hated me, and I've always hated him."

As they came closer, Sam strained to see. Just as Danny had described, they looked exactly like they typical Jock group, complete with the leader and the head-nodders.

"Hey loser!" came a voice.

It belonged to the leader, Dash. He had blonde hair and light blue eyes that glowed like Danny's. He was the biggest in the group, and apparently the most obnoxious. The rest of the group was comprised of three more people. Two of them looked fairly similar, brown hair and brown eyes which glowed as well. The other one seemed to be the second in command. He had black hair and brown eyes that also glowed.

"Dash, I am so not in the mood." Danny said irritably.

"Oh, but I am."

Danny let out a frustrated growl. "I have a job to do, unlike you!"

"Well I'm bored, so stay still and let me pummel you!"

"Do you really think I'd sink to your level of stupidity?"

With every sentence that came out of his mouth, Sam liked Dash less and less. Not only was he arrogant and acted like he owned the world, but he was stupid as well. Not a very good combination.

"Hey," said idiot spoke, finally noticing Sam, "Who's she?" He asked rudely.

"My name is Sam." She flew forward to face him.

"I wasn't talking to you."

"Well I'm talking to you now, so deal with it." Her words were clipped.

"What, are you challenging me?" Dash guffawed. "I like that in a woman. Why don't you ditch that loser and stick with me?"

Danny's eyes flashed dangerously and he flew right in front of Dash, blocking his view.

"I am going to take her to the Castle. She's a temporary replacement and she needs to get an assignment."

"I can take her there." He said brashly, floating a little to the side so that he could stare at Sam. "Come on," he coaxed, "this freak's just dragging you down."

"I'm not going near you unless it's to rip your head off." Over the past few minuets, she had developed an extreme dislike for him.

"I'm done wasting my time talking," he said, disgusted by Sam's adamant refusal.

Then, without warning, Dash rushed at Danny, who narrowly avoided it by darting out to the side. Dash's three minions soon joined the fray. Danny was doing very well against Dash, in fact, he was noticeably stronger, it was the three other people surrounding him that gave him trouble. He swooped below them and turned to fire some type of green ray out of his hand at the black-haired boy's back.

"You took out Kwan!" Dash shouted in anger as the black-haired boy fell to the ground, unconscious, "He's my best fighter!"

"Which was why I took him out!"

Danny swerved, missing a right hook thrown by Dash by only millimeters. He twisted around to avoid a shot at his back, but he failed to notice two green rays headed toward him from opposite sides. By the time he did, it was too late. There was no time to react.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This was a bit longer than my other chapters, since I missed a post.

There is a deeper meaning behind the title than just what was revealed in this chapter.

So, was it decent? Should I change anything? Any suggestions?

Please review! (I find it odd that I seem to get exactly three reviews for each chapter…)


	7. Chapter 7

I. Am. So. Sorry. It's been so long since I've updated, but it's been a really hectic couple of weeks. I should actually be researching for a report I have, but I already had a bit written up and I feel really bad for not updating for so long. This is a bit longer than some other chapters, but I do hope to start updating sooner now…I hope you like it! (I'm not exactly sure about my writing prowess with fighting scenes)

**READ THIS!- I am contemplating whether or not to redo the story…Just replace the chapters with brushed-up versions later. Please review and tell me what you think about this. **

Disclaimer: Yeah, yeah. Rub the fact that I don't own this wonderful show in my face, why don't ya?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Death's Castle

Ch.7

Sam looked on, horrified at the sight of the two beams approaching the luckless person in the middle.

"Danny!" she yelled. Without thinking, she threw her hands in front of her. To her astonishment, a perfectly spherical bubble made up of green energy with an almost frosted look appeared around him. All those present where astounded. The blasts ricocheted onto the two dumbfounded faces which had shot them, and the tumbled to the ground.

Unfortunately, neither Danny, nor Sam noticed Kwan was no longer on the ground. Sam's eyes widened and she opened her mouth. Before she could shout a warning, Kwan, who had snuck up behind Danny, created a clear, green shield bubble. And it was around Danny, trapping him inside. Kwan nodded to Dash before smirking victoriously at Sam. She wanted to hit him, not to mention Dash.

Great, now she was in another completely screwed up situation. Oh joy. This time, Dash's sights were set on her, and Danny couldn't do a thing about it. Not that it stopped him from re-doubling his efforts to get out, which only gave him an aching shoulder in return.

'Crap' She thought worriedly while trying he best to dodge his attacks, 'What the heck did I get into, and how the heck do I get out of it?' She was getting more worried with each passing second. She was no veteran to ghostly warfare, and most of the things she ended up doing were by accident. Not to mention that she was starting to tire out from dodging his repeated punches, and Dash didn't even seem winded. Sam glanced over at Kwan, who was taunting Danny, his hand still on the shield to keep it going.

'I need to break that shield somehow…but what could I do? Danny's way stronger than me right now, and he's not even making any progress at all…but maybe I could just break Kwan's concentration instead.' She dropped a few feet from the air to avoid a blow to her head, 'Dash wouldn't let me anywhere near him though…If only I could learn to shoot those rays…' She studied Dash while flying backwards. Her face brightened slightly, 'I can't, but Dash defiantly can!'

With that thought, a devilish grin spread across her face, scaring Kwan, making Danny curious, and Dash laugh arrogantly.

"What?" Dash goaded, "Are you looking forward that much to getting pounded? Or have you changed you mind?" He sneered.

Even Dash got apprehensive when they saw the grin get wider to an almost maniacal point and a glint in her eyes that could bode no good for the one unlucky enough to be the focus of her attention. With no warning, not even a blink of an eye, she darted right up to Dash's face.

"Wha-."

_Thud. Crunch._

The sounds echoed eerily, while the onlookers stared in blatant shock, one dismayed and one ridiculously happy. Sam managed to pull off a marvelous right hook, breakinghis abused nosein unfeasible angles. He didn't react for a moment, probably shocked that a supposed 'helpless female that didn't have enough strength to lift a book' had socked him so hard that he felt nauseous. He floated there in a slight daze as an odd green fluid dripped out of his nose. After the shock had worn off, however, pure rage took its place.

"You!" He bellowed, bringing both hands in front of him to aim at her. He blasted a ray at her, twice as large as normal and radiating with energy, straight at her. This, of course, was exactly what she wanted. She threw herself to the side, barely missing it, and twisted around to see it hit Kwan instead. He yelled loudly, his body twisting in agony as it hit his chest. Then once again, he fell. He was unconscious before he hit the ground. The shield dissipated, leaving an astonished Danny free. He wasted no time, and flew quickly over to Sam's side.

"Thanks Sam!" He said merrily, with a glint of mischief to rival Sam's, "Are you ready to wipe the floor with this guy?"

She smiled wolfishly, which was all the answer he needed. Dash was in prolonged shock, and was plagued with pain-enhanced stupidity, so he was a little less than aware at that point. Danny grinned back.

So Dash didn't notice them flying towards him. He also didn't notice the fist in his gut and the kick to his head (placed nicely over his already messed up nose) until he was falling, and by then it was too late. He hit the ground alongside his minions and was swept away to the blissful realms of unconsciousness.

"That was the most fun I've had in a long time." He declared.

"Yeah," she responded happily, "I've wanted to do that to so many jerks in the past."

"You've got a strong punch." He commented.

Her smile wavered and she looked a little sad.

"Sam?"

"Huh? Oh…nothing. So," she changed the subject, "Do they do that often?" she sounded a bit concerned.

Danny looked at her questioningly.

"Do they always gang up on you like that?"

He grimaced, "Yeah, I can get away sometimes though…"

Her expression was enraged, "Don't they have some sort of judgment system here?"

"Yeah," he answered, "But Walker and I aren't on very good terms."

At her confused countenance, he elaborated, "Walker is the judge, executioner, jury, executioner, jailer, and if necessary the executioner."

"You said executioner three times."

"He likes that part of the job." He explained, the corner of his mouth turned up.

"What's with the names here? Ran out of decent creativity?" She made a face.

"You have no idea." He said wryly, "But come on, I have to get you to the Castle…it's not too far now."

After a short while of flying, they came to an odd ridge, almost like wall climbing up to the odd colored sky.

"It's right past here."

She gasped in compete awe at the spectacle laid out before her after cresting the ridge. It was gigantic! It's didn't seem to have an end, it stretched on as far as the eyes could see, both forwards and sideways. It was made of myriad colors, shapes, and textures, so scrambled together and odd that it didn't seem possible that it could fit together. Yet here it was, standing as if to prove her wrong. Sam shook out of her stupor-like state and followed Danny down the entrance of the monstrosity of a castle.

Each of the double doors were easily fifteen times her height and wide enough to let a crowd past. They were impressive to say the least. Made of a blood red wood, with a design of some kind of black stone and inlays of an odd typed of metal that couldn't seem to stay the same color for more that a second.

"Welcome to Death's Castle." Danny whispered as the doors slowly swung open.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Okay. How was it? I want to honestly know how the fight scene turned out.

**Explanations:** The ghost body is built almost identically to the human body, except composed of energy instead of 'solid' matter. In this fic, it is possible for a ghost to actually die in the sense of not existing, but it's a lot more difficult to do than killing a human. Any other questions? Review or email them to me and I'll try to answer them as soon as possible.

See that button? Press it! I know you want to…it's there, just begging…(And so am I)


	8. Chapter 8

Here I am with the next chapter! I'm hoping to update at least twice or three timesa week, but I do have school lurking over my head, so I'm not really sure how that's going to work out.

Disclaimer: If you hadn't heard me the first seven times I've said this then I'll say it again…I haven't, I don't, and I probably will never own Danny Phantom. If I did I wouldn't let the show get canceled…

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Death's Castle

Ch.8

She was expecting a blinding light; it's what we all expect as a result to all of the TV shows and movies that promote this. So naturally, she was surprised to see the opposite. (She inwardly rejoiced, seeing as she rebelled against the constraints of the media and all those who conform) It was dark, but that couldn't completely describe it. It was thick, almost to the point where you could feel it if you tried, and it was comforting, yet ominous at the same time. You knew that it was dark, but it almost seemed bright. It in itself was a paradox. It was seemingly so simple, yet it boggled the mind. It was entrancing.

Danny took in her awed expression and smirked. "You haven't seen anything yet." With that, he walked into the darkness. Sam stared into it for awhile, than stepped in herself.

It was an overload of the senses. Hot and cold, light and dark, loud and soft. She was feeling a million emotions at once, and at least twice the sensations. Fleeting glimpses of images passed before her eyes and vanished before she could make any sense of it. It was chaos, and when she felt like she couldn't take it any more and she would rip to shreds and tip into insanity, it abruptly stopped. Sam gratefully crumpled onto the awaiting, cold floor.

She felt arms wrapping around her, lifting her off of the ground, and a voice saying softly, "I forgot how much it takes out of you the first time."

Sam leaned heavily upon him once he set her back on her feet.

"What was that?" She asked shakily.

"The Guardian," He replied, "His job is to keep all unwanted visitors out of the castle. What you felt was him going through your memories. It makes it much easier for him to discern loyalty and character."

"I never want to do that again." She shivered.

"It's not as bad if you don't stay away too long. The longer you're away, the more new memories to sort through." He shot her a grin. "Once I was gone for a century and a half. That did not feel good."

"Well that was smart." She pointed out teasingly.

He shot her a weak glare before ignoring the statement and asking, "Are you okay now?"

She nodded.

"Do you have enough energy to fly?" He pointed above them. "Because we need to go up there."

Sam looked up. High in the ceiling, a circular opening led to another floor above.

"I think so…" She answered.

After floating to the next floor, with Danny assisting Sam, they started walking down the hall. The red marble made Sam's footsteps echo eerily, bouncing off of the high ceilings and back down to their ears. The walls were a lighter shade of red, with antique silver candleholders in which slender candles were set. The candles created odd shapes and shadows with their unnaturally red light. All in all, it created a disturbing and uncomfortable feeling.

There was a set of double doors at the end of the hall, made of black stone that seemed to suck all of the light, warmth and cheer out of everything. There was a carving of a skull set into it.

Danny grasped the large handle and pulled. It swung open noiselessly. Once again, a pool of darkness greeted them, but it was different this time…it almost felt sinister. Sam hesitantly followed Danny to stand just outside the door. She jumped slightly when a voice sounded.

"Come in." It sounded cold, emotionless.

Sam stepped closer to Danny, who smiled comfortingly at her before obeying the voice. Sam followed cautiously after. She gasped lightly when the doors swung shut heavily behind her.

"Sam. You have come."

Her insides were icy and her warning sense prickled warningly at her. This could not bode well.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The nurse walked into the room. It was a bit larger than their standard rooms, but there were two people in there. One Samantha Manson and her mother. Ever since that strange incident last night, Sam had been in a coma. There was simply no reasonable explanation for it. The nurse had come to the conclusion that what she had seen that night was not a delusion. How else could a perfectly healthy young woman drop into a sudden coma? There wasn't any physical trauma that could have caused it!

What was even stranger was that her mother had been healing in an alarmingly rapid speed ever since then. They had taken the bandages and casts off of her; there was no need for them any more. There was no plausible explanation for that either. It was unnerving to have so much strangeness happen in less that a day.

The nurse walked over to the mother. She was almost an exact replica of Sam, just older. The nurse watched, shocked and entranced as the mother opened her eyes slowly. They were the clearest blue she had ever seen.

"Sam…" She whispered before her eyes closed once again.

When the nurse had regained her wits, she ran haphazardly out of the room and down the hallway.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So? How was it? Anything that needs to be explained? Any issues you have with it? Please tell me anything you have to say.

**READ THIS: You people still haven't told me yet whether or not you want me to re-do the story. I would really like to know what to do. Is it fine the way it is? **

This is the part where I beg you to review. I adore reviewers, you guys make my day happy. I would also like to get criticism…I want to get better, but I need to know what's wrong with my writing first.


	9. Chapter 9

Hurray! Back with another one! Thanks to the reviewers and I hope you enjoy this new chapter in the story! By the way, Happy Valentines Day!

Shameless advertising: I have created a new spur of the moment story! Wreaking Havoc! It's Humor/Romance if you like those sorts of things. Please check it out!

Disclaimer: Lo and Behold in shock! I do not own Danny Phantom! (Nor, sadly, will I ever) I

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Death's Castle

Ch.9

After the nurse had reported to the head doctor the surprising news, she had been reassigned to watch over the mother for signs of another awakening. I was dreadfully boring, and time seemed to stretch longer than could be possible. She tapped her foot on the floor impatiently, checking her watch every minuet. To her frustration, neither the second, nor the minuet hand went any faster. She let out an aggravated sigh, but her face immediately brightened when she heard footsteps echo down the hall. She leapt out of her seat and rushed to the door, clinging tot the doorframe to avoid falling over.

"Doctor Dimaric!" she shouted happily. When he had gotten closer, she whispered conspiratorially, "Did you get it?"

He shot her an annoyed glance. He opened his large, black briefcase and handed her a large, hardcover book. It looked pretty old.

"I hope you're happy, I had to trek al over Amity to find that thing." He said before walking away.

"Thank you!" She called before he turned the corner. She ducked quickly back inside the room and sat on her chair.

Wiping the dust off the cover, she examined the front. It was a fairly standard cover, brown leather embossed with gold letters. It was a bit worn around the edges, like it had seen many places. The unusual thing was the title. It read The Complete Collection of All Things Paranormal. She held her breath nervously and slowly eased the aged book open, being careful not to damage it.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She was trapped, she could not see, there was no way out, and some creepy guy had been waiting for her. Goody, just what she needed to make the day complete.

"I've been waiting for you for a while now, although I must admit you came much sooner than expected." A light chuckle was heard. It made her skin crawl. "Reaper, what is the cause of death?"

"She is not really dead, Master." Danny replied, in a curiously monotone voice.

A pair of red eyes abruptly flashed a few feet away, Sam's breath hitched in surprise.

"What do you mean she's not dead?" The voice hissed, seething.

"She is a temporary replacement, Master." Once again, it was monotone.

Sam could feel the displeasure radiating from the man the voice belonged to, although he could not see him. She could only see his red eyes, along with Danny's, making the situation all the more eerie.

A light shone suddenly, making her wince. I illuminated a door. It was a fairly typical wooden door, the only oddity was it was a light purple. She looked over nervously at Danny. The light over the door shone harshly across his face, she couldn't really decipher the expression. She looked around for the red eyes, but they had disappeared. Things were getting weirder by the second. It didn't make her feel any better.

She opened her mouth to speak, but a glare from Danny made the sound die in her throat.

'What's going on?' She thought nervously.

Danny grabbed a hold of her sweatshirt and practically hauled her over closer to the door. His grip was like iron. Once again, Sam opened her mouth to speak, but Danny just narrowed his eyes. She promptly shut her mouth. In one fluid motion, he yanked the door open, threw her in, and slammed the door shut, trapping her on the other side.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The nurse hurriedly flipped through the pages, eagerly seeking what she hoped would be found.

'Of course this book wouldn't have a table of contents or an index.' She thought, rolling her eyes.

She let out a soft, excited squeal when she found what she wanted. It was a section on paranormal beings, unfortunately, it was extremely long. She started to skim through the pages when a heading caught her eye. She didn't know why, it wasn't related in any way to what she was looking for. Her eyes were almost magnetically drawn to the page, to that heading…it was the oddest thing…She glanced at her watch.

'Might as well.' She figured.

_The Grim Reaper_

_Two Grim Reapers are elected every few centuries; the length of the duration of the job is determined by how well the job is performed. The Grim Reaper is bound to Death in a unique, servant/employee fashion. The duties of the Reaper are as follows: Making the people die on the appointed time, taking the souls from the body, and guiding the soul to its position/resting place. See Death and/ or Life for further details. _

A though flitted through her head, 'That was interesting; I wonder how they know this stuff anyway.'

She shrugged and closed the book, gently setting it on her lap. Her eyes needed a break, she'd been reading for awhile. She was looking out the window when a faint, green glow enveloped the book, pulsing under her fingertips.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Whew! Another chapter finished! It's a tad bit shorter than a few of my recent one's, but oh well…I didn't have much time…

Attension: There will be D/S eventually, and lots of it! But at the moment, I am building the plot. Think of their posotions too, Sam's mother almost died, but she took her place. She's too over loaded at the moment to think of a love life.Danny has been through things you don't know yet, and he's the Grim Reaper! He's already opened up a little to her...

Did you like, hate, tolerate? Questions, criticism, statements to share? Review please! It will make me very happy!


	10. Chapter 10

New chapter again! A big thank you to all the reviewers!

Wrote this during a review in class…so anyways, I hope you like it!

More Shameless Advertising: If you're in the mood for a Humor/Romance fic, then check out my other Danny Phantom fic, Wreaking Havoc!

Disclaimer: I don't own Danny Phantom (sniff) nor am I making any money on this story. (Another sniff)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Death's Castle

Ch.10

Nothing. Nothing at all…no darkness, no light, no sound, no sight…nothing. It was there without being there at all. Sam couldn't even see herself. The only thing that let Sam know that she existed was that she could think, and think she did in abundance.

'Where am I? And what was up with Danny?' She pondered these and other questions like them. Soon enough, other questions and thoughts paraded through her mind. She was starting to become hysterical.

'What's going on?' She yelled in her head. She wanted to cry, but if she could, she wouldn't be able to feel it.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Was that necessary?" the Reaper asked him.

"Yes," Death answered, still shrouded in darkness, "She was a threat to my plan the fact that she could materialize like that after only a few seconds out of her body indicates power. I will either bend her to my will, or destroy her." He paused, "The last one who gained control so quickly was you."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After a few minuets resting her eyes, the nurse picked the book back up and started flipping through it again. This time, a different title caught her eye.

_Souls_

_A soul is the term used to define what resides in the living human body. It is the first stage of power for the dead. It makes a person who they are and animates the body. When a soul is taken out of the body, its natural form is a ball of light, too bright to be seen easily by the living eye. See following entries for the progression of levels for the dead. _

Something tugged in the nurse's mind, urging her to think.

'Something seems so familiar about that passage…'

She put that thought in the back of her mind and to the next yellowed page.

_Spirits_

_Spirits are the next level of the dead. When a soul gets enough energy, it can transform itself into a more stable shape. This form is almost like a vapor. The stronger the spirit, the more defined the vapor becomes. Spirits are hardier than souls and suffer less risk of being destroyed. See the following entry for the last stage. _

That feeling was still there, but she pushed it away.

'That was interesting…' She turned the page.

_Ghosts_

_The Ghost is the last form of the dead. When a Spirit gets enough energy, it transforms into a Ghost. Some Souls have completely skipped the Spirit stage to go directly into Ghost form, although it is extremely rare. A Ghost assumes the appearance it had when it had lived. They are also the hardest to destroy. Ghosts are able to acquire various powers and are able to visit the mortal realm by going through a portal. Elite Ghosts like the Grim Reaper, Death, Life, Fate, and Time; can actually create temporary portals._

Wheels started turning in the nurse's mind, and pieces of the puzzle started to fall into place. She gasped loudly, shooting straight up in her chair almost loosing her book, and widened her eyes.

'I get it now! That flash of light was Sam's soul! That was the Grim Reaper! That's why Sam is in a coma!' Her enlightened expression turned confused, 'Then why isn't her body dead?' A thought stuck her, 'What if he just stole her soul for some sinister purpose?' She became determined, 'If that's the case, then someone needs to save her!'

With a strange glint in her eyes, she skimmed through the book once more; but this time, she was looking for something else.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At this point, Sam had calmed down. Although it was creepy, she had determined that this nothingness couldn't hurt her, and getting freaked out wouldn't help at all. Besides, she needed to stay sane so that she could interrogate the next person she saw…if she ever got out of there.

She started to feel something, which surprised her to no end. But it wasn't a one of the five senses feeling, it was more like something of her was shifting. It was the weirdest thing she had ever felt. Then she saw something. It was a rip, like a tear though a rough fabric. It widened and a familiar head poked through. A little light streamed through the opening and hit her. Suddenly, she could be again. She could see, feel, hear, smell…she never noticed before that the air here had a taste. It was almost too much after sensing nothing for so long.

"Danny!" She cried out happily when she figured out how to speak again…At least, she tried to. It came out more like a squeak.

"Come on, hurry," He urged quietly, holding out his hand. He was speaking normally again. "And be quiet." He added.

She eagerly took his hand and leapt up out of the nothingness. She was filled to bursting with questions to ask him, but he had said to be quiet, so she would ask questions later. But she did need answers, and she was going to get them sooner or later. Hopefully sooner.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hmmm…what's going on? I bet you wonder…

Good? Bad? Somewhere in between? This was more of an explanation chapter than anything…

Hint: Just to let all of you know, the nurse (whom I still haven't named) is going to play a decently large part in this little drama, you'll see. It's not just filler. I have plans…

Please Review! It brightens my day and lightens the heart!


	11. Chapter 11

(pants…) Whew, got the next chapter ready for the press! Took some serious speed typing too. Another thanks to my marvelous reviewers and I sincerely wish you people all like this next installment. Enjoy!

Shameless Advertising: I think you all know what I going to say by this point…

Disclaimer: Never have, never will own it.The depressing cycle of my life...(sigh)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Death's Castle

Ch.11

Doctor Dimaric sighed, running a hand through his thick, brown hair. He had to check on Ms. Autthere, who was the nurse assigned to look after Mrs. and Ms. Manson.

'She is certifiably insane! She _blackmailed_ me in order to make me search through all of Amity for some book of nonsense!' he fumed in his mind.

"Darn it! I can't find it!" A voice screeched shrilly.

Doctor Dimaric winced and headed to the doorway.

"Must you shatter my ability to hear?" he asked the distraught and frustrated nurse.

She took no heed to his statement and kept on ranting, "I've looked and looked through this stupid book cover to cover, but I still can't find it!"

"Find what?" Despite his doubt of her sanity, and his slight irritation, he was still curious.

"I-." She started to explain, but she cut herself off. She said hesitantly, "I probably shouldn't tell you."

He bit back an unpleasant phrase and crouched down to her level instead, putting his hand on her shoulder. He opened his mouth to speak when an unusual sensation overtook him. A myriad of colors swirled madly around before his eyes. He blinked in confusion, and things started to slow down and settle.

He blinked rapidly, trying to get his bearings. When he did, he almost blacked out in shock.

He was in an odd, purple colored land with a green-tinted sky…

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sam leaned against a multi-colored wall, regaining energy. After Danny had half-dragged her down a maze of corridors for at least an hour, she felt that she deserved a bit of rest. She glanced at Danny briefly through the curtain of her hair before staring back at the floor. She didn't know what to make of this anymore. Things had gotten really crazy lately…and what to make of Danny? Had had been acting so odd lately, almost as if he changed into another person sometimes…Not to mention that wierdplace she was locked in not to long ago. She was stopped mid-thought, much to her annoyance, by Danny, who had grabbed her wrist again.

"Oh, no." She stated, "I'm _not_ doing that again."

"We're almost there, we _need_ to get there." His tone was almost pleading.

She knew something was off, but exactly what, she couldn't say. So she kept her suspicions to herself to be worked out later. She sighed heavily.

"Fine, but can you not yank off my arm this time? I'm quite fond of it for some reason."

He looked sheepish for a second. "Uh, sure, I'll try not to do that." This time, his tone was awkward.

A small smile played on Sam's lips once he turned around.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Almost there!" Sam yelled, "That took even longer than the first time!" She crossed her arms across her chest and fumed.

Danny had to fight to keep in a snicker. "Well, we're here now, right?"

"I'm not guaranteeing how long you'll exist to be here." Sam grumbled under her breath.

She could see Danny about to reply, until he abruptly stiffened. Sam whirled around only to face…some Spanish chick? She faced Danny again and noticed he had an awestruck look on his face.

"Paulina…" He droned. He sounded like a zombie or something…

She looked at this Paulina girl, then back to Danny. Then it clicked.

"Oh, nooo…" she groaned, putting a hand up to her head.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Doctor Dimaric bravely tried to fight the incoming migraine. He lost...badly.

It turned out that after he had recovered enough from his immense shock to notice anything around him, he realized that his hand still had something solid under it. His slid over to his hand, which had a shoulder under it. With dread, the eyes went to the face. It was the nurse, with a grin so wide, that it would split any normal person's head in half.

"Yes!" She cheered, "There _was_ a way to get here!"

He struggled to keephis composure calm. "And where, exactly, is here?"

"It's some kind of afterlife place, I was hoping there was a way to get here without dieing, and there was!" She paused, looking down into her lap, "Huh? I wonder why this book's glowing."

He breathed in a large, steadying breath.

'I am stuck wherever here is with a crazy, talkative, ditz of a lunatic. Please let this be a nightmare!'

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Danny stared in a stupor at the girl. She was obviously popular, or at least she thought she was. It was with utter arrogance that she walked, as if the whole world was beneath her. Sam hated these types of girls with a passion. The fact that Danny was drooling at that slut didn't help her mood either.

'She's not that pretty.' Sam sulkily thought.

"Hey loser, get out of my way." The girl said rudely, purposely bumping into his shoulder. He just stood there, his eyes following her, as if he didn't care.

'How can he let himself get pushed around like that!' She was outraged.

Paulina stopped suddenly, as if just realizing something.

"Who's the girl, loser?"

That girl was just asking for a punch in the face...

"Huh? Oh, her? She's new."

"Then why's she hanging with you? Ohh…did the loser make a loser friend?"

Sam was incensed, and she showed it. She squared off with Paulina, glaring at her and saying,

"Shut. The hell. Up."

Paulina's eyes flashed dangerously.

"What, are you threatening me?"

Sam's eyes narrowed to slits.

"Yes."

They scowled at each other.

'Oh,' Sam thought viciously, 'It's on.'

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CATFIGHT! This next chapter should be interesting… This chapter though seemed a bit...meh...to me...I don't know why...

I gave the nameless nurse a name! (Well, a last one…)

Okay, I'll try to make the chapters longer from her on out, but I'm not sure if I can without taking ridiculously long to post, so I'll see how that works out.

Due to numerous negative responses, I will not re-do the chapters!

Please review! Tell me your thoughts, criticism, etc. I would really love feedback from you people!


	12. Chapter 12

Alright, I'm back with the next part of the story. I'm sorry it took so long, but school just eats up so much of my time…and my cat chewed through my mouse wire! Grrr...I had to buy another one(wireless this time…).I tried to make this one a bit longer, but I hope to lengthen the chapters a lot more than this.

A big thank you to all of my wonderful reviewers! You people make my day!

Shameless Advertising: Check out my other stories! I'm still in the very beginning stages of all of them, but I hope to update all of them by the end of next week at the latest.

Disclaimer: There are only so many ways to say it: I do not own Danny Phantom, nor will I ever.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Death's Castle

Ch.12

Danny, regaining some presence of mind, looked wildly between Paulina and Sam, dread written clearly across his face. There was a sense of impending doom as the girls faced off, glaring with hate shining very clearly in both of their eyes. Seconds stretched into minuets. The girls never broke eye contact. The dread grew, as well as the tension.

Without warning, Paulina flung herself at Sam, who narrowed her eyes further. She merely sidestepped and turned to watch the other girl fly past her. To Sam's immense disappointment, Paulina caught herself before she hit the stone wall.

"That was pathetic." Sam remarked.

Paulina snapped something back in Spanish before launching herself at Sam once more. This time, Sam turned to the side, grabbed the girl, and threw her heavily towards the wall. To her satisfaction, Paulina hit it with much force, making a sickening sound. Paulina shakily got up from the ground where she had slid. She was furious.

Danny looked like he was waging a war with himself. His eyes were unseeing and it looked as if he was trying to force out of his head what shouldn't be there. The moment passed and his eyes regained some clarity, but his face looked strained.

Paulina scrunched up her face in concentration and fired off a blast at Sam. It connected and launched Sam violently against the wall behind her. Unnoticed by everyone, who were too occupied by their own battles, a necklace fell off of the unbalanced shelf above her and landed perfectly around Sam's neck. It fell discreetly under her sweatshirt, hidden from sight. Sam recovered far more quickly than Paulina had and she regained her stance. Sam studied her opponent warily for signs of another blast; but it seemed Paulina had no energy to spare for another ray, so she retreated to a different tactic, verbal abuse.

"You're such a freak! You dress like some fashion deprived geek, and you're hanging around with that loser!" She pointed at Danny who didn't seem to register the insult, "He didn't even tell me where Danny went!" she wailed, trying to sound pitiful.

Sam blinked in confusion, sorting out this new piece of information.

"Who's Danny?" she asked before she could stop herself.

Paulina promptly forgot she was supposed to be fighting and started gushing about "her" Danny, taking a picture seemingly out of thin air. Sam couldn't shake off the feeling that the picture was familiar somehow. Sam looked from the picture to the Danny in the room, confirming her suspicion. The Danny in the picture looked exactly like the Danny here. Except in the picture, he had black hair and normal sky blue eyes. It only raised more questions in Sam's mind, whose curiosity had been piqued by this whole odd incident she had been thrown in. She finally tuned in Paulina's babbling in order to find out more about this Danny in the picture.

"…so cute, and hot, and wonderful!" Paulina sighed sadly, holding the picture to her chest, "But he's human."

Sam couldn't help but feel that she knew the Danny in the picture in some other way than his similarity to the Reaper. It was like she had seen him before…the eyes were so familiar…

"If only I could find him…" Paulina's face grew enraged once more. She pointed accusingly at Danny and said with venom in her voice, "That loser is friends with him! He told me he'd introduce us, but he lied! That loser, freak,…" She ranted on, the names turning into nastier insults, which eventually melted into Spanish.

With every word, Danny seemed to shrink in further on himself. His eyes became duller, and they held a defeated look. Sam's chest clenched, and almost seemed to burn. She let out a furious growl and hurdled into Paulina, smashing her up against the wall. Paulina's breath came out in terrorized spurts while looking into the blazing purple eyes of her captor.

"What the hell is wrong with you!" Sam screamed in her ear, "I am so sick and tired of you trying to insult people with every second of your existence! So shut the hell up and leave us alone!"

"I'm not going to shut up!" Paulina screeched back, clawing at Sam, "I am the most popular, beautiful ghost here! I will not be spoken down to and I should be able to crush peoples' hearts at my whim!" She dug her nails which had rapidly grown through Sam's sweatshirt and into he arms, "That freak was going to hook me up with that human!"

"You're such a shallow witch!"

"I'm not a witch!"

"But you're shallow?"

Paulina faltered. Sam's eyes blazed brighter in fury. She let out another growl, but this time, it sounded different, more feral. Her body started to morph, changing and rippling to a different shape. A dragon.

"SHALLOW GIRL!" Sam bellowed, breathing a blast of scorching green fire after her, who was now flying for her existence. The dragon quickly perused. After getting over his surprise, Danny followed. The dread kept on growing.

It was a short chase. Paulina was starting to tire, so she barreled through the first door she saw. Sam was barely able to squeeze through, and Danny had flown in after them just before the door slammed shut…and locked.

A jolt passed through them, and then they were through. All three of them erupted into a giant dining hall of some sort, made of gray stone, sparsely covered with tapestries. The door was large and oaken, although it seemed to have an odd tinge of purple.

Paulina flew wildly down to the end of the room. Her eyes widened drastically as she realized that the only other door was locked. She turned around and pressed her back against the door. The dragon landed gracefully on the floor, sensing that there would be no more need to chase down her prey. Sam lowered her serpentine head to stare at Paulina. Paulina's mind was frozen with terror once more.

Danny observed from his vantage point above in the air. He couldn't think of any explanation of how Sam turned into a dragon. She hadn't truly died yet, so she shouldn't have gotten her ability yet…and didn't someone else turn into a dragon when they were mad?

"SHALLOW GIRL!" the dragon burst, throwing her head up to the ceiling. A glint of light reflected from somewhere around Sam's neck and caught Danny's eye. It was from a necklace around her neck.

'That looks very familiar…' Comprehension dawned on Danny and hit him like a freight train, 'Doesn't that belong to that one ghost girl who wasn't ever able to go to the ball?...' He looked around, 'Who lives here…Oh, no…'

Sam lashed her head towards Paulina with her monstrous jaw wide open, showing gleaming teeth ready to tear her to shreds.

'I've got to get that necklace off of her!' A light haze swirled around in his thoughts, 'And save Paulina…'

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hmmm…a new twist to the tale. There are a few more hints here if you can pick up on them. This isn't one of my favorite chapters though...it just feels so...meh...

Do you like? Do you not? Have any questions? Please review! Make my day happy!


	13. Chapter 13

Another chapter. I'm sorry it took so long, but I'm finally free from the barrage of English papers I had to wade through, so I'll probably have much more time to update now. Thanks for waiting and I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 13! This will be a special chapter. But beware, what comes next might possible shock you…unless of course you were expecting it. It all depends how you think I guess…

Shameless Advertising: I've been doing this a while, but I'll say this again anyways. I've got some other Danny Phantom stories if you want to check them out.

Disclaimer: I have never, in anyway claimed that I own Danny Phantom and I never will. Even though I am grieved by this sad declaration, it would be even sadder if I was sued, since I'm broke anyway.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Death's Castle

Ch. 13

Danny dived down and spun in a roundhouse kick to Sam's head, driving it off course to crash into the wall a full five feet away from Paulina, crumbling some of the previously smooth stones. The girl heaved an audible sigh of relief and flew as far from the monster as she could, into the corner on the other side of the dining hall. Danny waited, his mind racing, trying to find a way to get the amulet without losing a few limbs in the process…while protecting Paulina at the same time…

Thinking took time, and there wasn't enough of it. The dragon was barely fazed by the impact, so she almost immediately swung her head around, aiming to take a chunk out of Danny. He almost wasn't fast enough, but he managed to snap back into reality just in time to dodge by the merest of fractions. Enraged even farther, the dragon turned her head and shot a scorching breath of fire at him. He dodged that too, just in time to get slammed into the ground by the mammoth force of Sam's tail.

With no obstacle to stand in her way, Sam barreled towards Paulina, who had made herself as small as possible, curling up in a ball and wedged as far as she could go in the corner. Dangerous, glinting teeth big enough to run someone through hurdled rapidly towards the cowering girl. Sam's raged eyes widened in an almost palpable delight as her target came ever nearer to oblivion. Paulina closed her own as she saw the sword-like fangs mere inches away. She screamed.

Time seemed to slow down at a painfully slow rate for Danny, as if the moment had such a heavy weight that it weighed down time to the point where it could go no faster. He bent his knees, preparing to spring into the air. Danny launched off of the floor with a speed he never thought he had, blasting chunks out of the floor with the sheer force of his takeoff. One hand reached forward desperately, just barely able to grasp the end of the dragon's tail. The other swung up to grasp more. With a mighty effort, ghostly muscles straining, he used her momentum against her to throw her sideways into the wall. There was a tremendous noise as the behemoth had her full body slam into one of the longer walls. The whole room seemed to shake, and bits of stone rained down to the floor.

Paulina had fainted from shock, and the dragon screamed in a furious roar before getting up with a little less grace. With speed to rival that of Danny's previous feat, she whipped her body around and pounded Danny into the floor with a clawed hand, taking him from his place in the air. He was pinned, looking up into the merciless eyes of his captor. In an ironic twist of fate, another friend was about to betray him, albeit not through her own unclouded decision. The other hand rose up to the ceiling. She was poised and ready to tear him to shreds.

So there they were, in a potentially calamitous event in time, but it seemed that time had frozen. They staid there in the same position, one ready to kill and the other ready to die once more. To any sensible person looking in on that moment, Danny was defenseless in the claws of a monster, and he had no hope.

Danny saw something else, however, in that seemingly suspended moment. He had seen her hesitation. Her eyes had changed somehow, still angry, but not as before. Sam was reluctant. In that moment, Danny found hope. Sam was still in there. She had a chance.

"Sam?" He called gently, "Do you remember me?"

The red eyes widened in surprise at this unexpected move, and a soft growl emitted from her throat.

"You know," he continued to speak; "I think you're the only friend I have."

The growl got louder, warning him to stop, but it almost seemed half-hearted.

"You're one of the few people that didn't shun me right away."

The claws dug into the stone floor and her eyes shut, her serpentine face contorted into a grimace.

"If you want to kill me, you can. It wouldn't be the first time"

The growl became almost pained.

"At least I know you didn't plan this."

With an uneasy rumble, she dislodged her hand from the stone and unpinned him. She stood on all fours, her wings spread majestically about her, watching him warily. Danny stepped forward. Her wings rustled. He took another step, she shifted nervously. Yet another, and the dragon took a step backwards, she shook her head slightly in confusion.

"It's all right, I won't hurt you." He spoke soothingly.

Sam calmed down, but she still fixed him with a wary look. Danny took another step forward, making the dragon step back once more and shake her head, much harder this time. He waited for her to settle down, still murmuring soothing words. He held up his hand, she lowered her snout. They were only inches away. Their eyes staring deep into each other, each trying to figure out the other's intensions. He stepped forward once more. Her hind leg shifted backwards. It hit the wall. She was cornered.

Her eyes flashed, turning crazed and panicked. With a bellow, she suddenly descended upon him, her claws slamming into his side and ripping through it, causing him to be flung into the wall. As he slid down, a thick trail of green ooze flowed to stick against the stone. The dragon stood there one hand outstretched, pieces of flesh and green blood grotesquely decorating her wickedly sharp claws. She stared at it as if entranced, watching the gory mess drip downwards. The giant serpent swiveled her head to stare at Danny. He lay there like a puppet with its strings cut, limp and unmoving. The ghostly blood formed a pool around him, soaking his clothes and turning his white hair green. His eyes slowly opened and he looked into Sam's horrified eyes. He could see the humanity still lingering in them, fighting to get out.

"Sam…" he choked out, before his eyes fluttered shut once more.

The dragon quivered, and her head rose up to the ceiling. Sam howled in anguish, letting the other emotions flood her, erasing the anger until it was almost non-existent. The only anger she felt was towards herself. With this flood of emotion, her body began to shift again. The dragon melted, folding in on herself, until the true form stood in her place. There stood Sam Manson, a terrified girl who had her hand coated in her friend's blood.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wow. This turned out just a bit different than I expected. It actually fits better with the plot than my other idea though, so it works.

Was this good? Bad? Decent? Depressing? Please tell me what you think, and don't be afraid to be critical. In fact, I would love criticism. It will help me get better.


	14. Chapter 14

Dance! I have posted the next chapter! I hope all of you people like! Enjoy!

A very happy thank you to those who reviewed, as I have now hit the 50 review mark! Yay!

If any of you were confused, animals don't like being cornered, and dragons are pretty much animals…hope that clears up any confusion if there was any…

Shameless Advertising: Want more stories? I have quite a few more DP fics if you want to read them.

Disclaimer: I've lost track of how many times I've said something to this effect: I do not own Danny Phantom, regardless of my attachment to the delightful show.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Death's Castle

Ch. 13

Sometimes, someone's world can come crashing down in an instant. It almost feels like having a doormat under your feet swiped out from under you, leaving you to fall gracelessly onto the floor. Sometimes, it's a slow decay, where acid eats away at you, and at the beginning…you don't even notice it at all. But despite these gruesome descriptions of world's falling apart, there is one way that is agonizing beyond all others. This is a special torture, reserved for those unlucky individuals who are randomly picked from the masses.

Sam was unlucky…

What she felt was neither a slow decay, nor a rapid decent. No, this was something else, something that almost combined the two together. This was a fall that took place in a single instant, yet was staged over a lifetime. That one instant seemed to drag forever in Sam's mind, and when it finally ended, she was left rudderless, tossed about in the raging waters of her mind, abandoned with that one scene playing over and over in her mind. It gave her no peace.

Sam stood there with the ghostly blood dripping off her hand, staring at it…with an almost crazed look in her eyes. She was shaken from the depths of her mind by her loss of balance, which made her tilt backwards. Sam let herself fall. She slid down to the floor, her eyes never leaving her bloodstained hand. Then she wept. It wasn't the bawling sobs, no; she had learned long ago to cry silently. Tears slid down her faces, reddening her amethyst orbs and falling gracefully down her face to dampen the dry stone floor.

'_This is just one more misery to add to the others…'_ She thought almost listlessly,_ 'It will not end.'_

She started to laugh, the sound laden with sorrow, agony, and a dozen of other tormenting emotions that language has no names for.

Paulina woke up. Puzzlement coated her features as she realized the dragon was nowhere to be found. She stood up silently, her eyes widening in unbelieving shock as she took in the sight before her. Danny lay in his blood, almost ripped in half, a few feet away. Sam sat in the corner, blood on her hand, tears down her face, and producing the most harrowing laugh she had ever heard in her lives. She felt nauseous first, then just sapped of energy by the sheer weight of it all. She laid a hand against the wall to support her, giving her time to fully absorb it all.

She looked up, startled, as the door she had tried to go through earlier opened with a bang. A petite ghost, wearing a blue dress and a small tiara on her head, entered the room; followed by two hulking guards dressed in a greenish silver armor. The princess gasped in horror at the sight and quickly rushed over to Danny on the floor while one of the guards followed her. The other took in Sam's frazzled appearance, both physical and emotional, and quickly headed towards her. He saw a chain around her neck, which he soon took off, proving his suspicions. He left with the amulet and walked briskly over to the princess, helping the other guard wrap the Reaper's wounds and carry him out of the room. One of them came back to give her the amulet, and he soon scurried out of the room again to accompany the other in taking care of the injured ghost, who clung to existence by the end of a thread. The princess finally took notice of Paulina, walking delicately up to her.

"What has happened here?" The princess asked softly.

"I-I don't know all of it…that girl over there…we were fighting, she got angry an-and turned into this monster-dragon thing! I fled, and came though a d-door and got here. That boy w-was fighting her…I fainted s-soon after…" Paulina's voice was hesitant; she was still shaken by what she had woken up to.

The princess nodded gravely. She took Paulina's hand and gently led her over to the open door. She handed her over to a guard standing farther down the hall.

"Take her to one of the guest's quarters." She ordered.

Paulina followed in a daze.

The princess went back to the wreckage that was once the spare dinning hall, and knelt quietly next to Sam, whose head was now bowed. Her laughing and tears had ceased, but the lack of expression did not indicate a lack in the pain inside of her. The princess put an arm around Sam, who didn't seem to notice. Putting a hand on her elbow, the princess helped Sam stand up. Taking small steps and taking them slowly, they got to another guard down the hall.

"Take her to the quarters on the third floor. Be gentle with her. She's been through much pain."

The guard nodded and picked Sam up carefully, walking up the spiraling flight of stairs in the corner of the hall.

The princess touched the amulet around her neck with the tip of her finger. Her brow was furrowed and the corners of her mouth turned down.

"See what hate causes? It builds and builds until it is out of control…" She sighed sadly letting her back lean up against the coldwall, "It can blind us so much that we even hurt our loved ones." Her eyes closed and she finished with a whisper, "I should know."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The aftermath…

Hope you liked that! I know this is a bit short, but it's a bit hard for me to make them longer. I'll try though…

Anyways, please review! I'd like to know what all of you think of this! Thanks!


	15. Chapter 15

Wow. It's been a really long time since I've updated this…Very sorry about that. I have a little time now to write this because it's Easter break. So, I hope all of you like this chapter and I hope it doesn't disappoint.

Shameless Advertising: Once again, I would really like for you people to read my other stories if you have the time…

Disclaimer: Come on, this is just the what, 15th time I've said this in this story alone? I'd think all of you know this by now. I do not own Danny Phantom.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Death's Castle

Ch. 15

Paulina sat upon the rich, velvet covers of the elegant four poster bed that was in the guest room to which she had been assigned. Although she would have normally been soaking in the glory of the ridiculous amount of money that had gone into this room, the one she was using; now she was sobered by the somber air that had permeated the place due to the unlucky events that had taken transpired only a few moments before.

In this unusual lack of childish idiocy, Paulina took the time to actually think for once of things that didn't particularly revolve completely around her, and a little about her life, and little about how she died. It was odd in a way; how she was able to relate to the girl she had been fighting against not too long ago.

It was then, in that one moment where Paulina's mind was clear from the filth and trash she piled onto it, when she was determined to do something that most people that had met her called unlike her.

With a look that not normally graced her face, she got out off of her bed and walked out of the room. When she got out, her eyes widened at the sheer number of doors and hallways that made up the castle. She walked up to one of the guards, and asked politely, but still with a little snottyness that she hadn't been able to take completely out of her voice, where Sam was, or in her exact words,

"Uh, excuse me? Where's that pale girl with the black hair that almost killed that boy?"

When she got her answer, she marched imperiously up a flight of stairs into a guest room that was decorated even more lavishly than her own. For a moment, her usual attitude reared its ugly head with jealousy, but she forced that down and reminded herself why she was there. With a purposeful stride, she walked over to the figure in the chair, facing the window.

She still had her hand in front of her face, as though examining the green blood of the ghost she had taken a chunk out of even though it had been already washed away. The violet eyes were blank and darker than they were before, like she was trapped inside of her own mind. Perhaps she was stuck inside there, trying to fight her own personal demons and nightmares come to life.

Paulina put her hand upon Sam's shoulder with more gentleness than one would think she could muster. Sam didn't even twitch. A slight frown turned down the corner's of Paulina's mouth as she recalled some distant memory…

_A young brown haired teenager sat slumped against the wall, her hand in front of her face. The bright pink nail polish was covered by the thick red substance that is human blood. The knife clutched in her grasp was one you could ordinarily find in the kitchen, it was scuffed up and the black handle was faded with age, but the end and the edges were very sharp. It had to have been to be able to kill someone so easily. Trails of blood flowed down her hand. With a gasp, she dropped the knife. It was almost like she thought it hadn't been there before. The knife clattered on the cold tile of the floor and the girl's sobs echoed eerily throughout the empty house. _

_The corpse was only a few feet away, still warm and bleeding. _

Paulina's mouth pressed into a thin line, and she abruptly jerked her head, trying her hardest to banish the memory. But it doesn't work that way. With that memory still in her mind, she looked at Sam again, thinking about how odd it was that two such different people can do such similar things. With renewed determination, she shook her should slightly, mentally willing her to come out of her mental prison. When that didn't work, she just started talking, knowing that Sam would hear her whether she was acknowledged or not.

"Look, l-girl, I'm not the best at apologies or making people feel better, but I know I shouldn't have done what I did. And I'm sorry how things turned out. Just to let you know, I know how it feels like to hurt people you love and I know how it feels like to screw things up. I just thought it would be nice to know that you're not the only one."

With that said, she walked over to the door.

"Oh, yeah, and if you ever need someone to spill to, I'll listen."

She walked away, her pink heels clicking against the stone floor and echoing throughout the hall. Inside the room, Sam lowered her hand and blinked, turning her head to watch her go in a faint sense of disbelief that barely found a way to get past the confused jumble of her emotions.

It'sodd how people that are so different can find common ground in a time of tragedy.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is a bit of a transitional chapter, but there are some good points to pick up on. Just as a general rule, pretty much every one has a story of there own that will be revealed in little bits and pieces through this fic, at least, that's what I intend to do.

So, how did all of you like it? I'm so sorry that it took so long and that it's such a short chapter for such a long amount of time, but there wasn't much I could do about that. I have two new stories in the works and my mind is poking me with a stick and forcing me to write them.

Thanks to all of those who reviewed!

Please tell me how you liked this!


	16. Chapter 16

Well, this chapter is at least a bit better than the last one, although not as action packed as the dragon scenes. This chapter wades through some emotional angst, gives a little sneak peek to Dora's past, and throws a whole other factor into the confusing mix that this plot has turned out to be. So hopefully, it'll be a little more interesting than the last.

I would like to thanks all the reviewers for last chapter, especially since there were only three of them: divinedragon7, The Adversary, and katiesparks.

What the heck happened people? Was it a bad time to post or was that chapter just particularly bad? I'd really like to know!

Shameless Advertising: If some people would read my other DP stories, it would make me oh so happy…

Disclaimer: This is the sixteenth chapter, incidentally; this is also the sixteenth disclaimer (I think). All of you could probably guess in your sleep what I'd say.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Death's Castle

Ch. 16

Outside the castle walls, a layer of gray fog blanketed the landscape. The angry purple clouds up in the sky shattered any hopes that a light could disperse it. The trees had no leaves, their spindly branches poking up to the sky like spears, as if trying to pierce the sky above.

It was like the land was in mourning.

In the back of the castle, a rough onyx shaded stone pinnacle stood proudly, overshadowing the young ghost princess kneeling beneath. She clutched the amulet around her neck with one hand, and she held a matching one in her right. She clenched her right hand around the amulet, and the shaking quietly rattled the broken pieces of the chain together. Biting her lip, she gently placed the broken amulet upon the rocky soil at the monolith's foot with reverence. Her hand lingered over it, but she quickly retracted it had as if she had been scalded; and it soon joined her left.

"Why is it that you still have control of me, even after death?" Her voice was morose, but resigned. There was even the slightest hint of affection in those words.

The princess's eyes scanned once more over the two, only words carved onto the mammoth rock.

_Prince Aragon _

"Brother…I'm so sorry." A tear rolled down her face to splash upon the amulet on the ground.

With her eyes blurred by unshed tears, the slight of the glowing of the amulet completely escaped her notice. The green eye upon the face of it widened to encompass the whole diameter, all the way to the edging of gold; and it turned an alarming shade of red. By the time she registered the phenomenon, it was too late. It shot up from the earth and plunged towards her. With a frightened gasp, she let go of her amulet and fell backwards in her haste to escape. With the echo of a dragon roar, it collided together with her own and they fused into one.

The princess began to thrash upon the ground, her limbs twitching in erratic motions. She tensed, her face contorted in a grimace and her eyes clenched shut.

Then she screamed.

-------------------------------------------

The weather seemed to match her mood. The dank cold of the fog seemed to seep through the stone and leech any warmth there was. Sam wiped furiously at her eyes and leapt up from her chair. There was no delaying it anymore. She had to see him. See if he was still here…or…

She shook her head and walked purposely down the stairs and to the guard at its foot. After asking for directions, she found her way through the twisting corridors to the room assigned as the infirmary. Lying right there in front of her eyes was Danny. There was another guard keeping a vigil right beside his bed. For a while, she just stood there in the doorway and stared, but she was soon drawn to his side.

"Is he still…here?" She asked after a tense pause. Although Sam's voice was soft, the deep concern shone clearly through it, and she unconsciously bit her lip in further expression.

"You haven't been here that long have you?" The guard asked, more like a statement than a question.

At the startled look on her face, he continued, choosing to forgo questioning her for a later time.

"I'll take that as a no." He had the slightest tinge of amusement coloring his voice, "When we die, we simply disappear. If his form still exists, than he's still alive…in the ghostly sense I mean." His tone became somber, "But he's only hanging on by the skin of his teeth. I don't know for sure if he'll make it. We've done all we can."

She laid her worried gaze once more upon the limp form of her friend. She could see the tint of green that showed the ectoplasm struggling to get past the thick wrapping of the bandages. Just as she was turning her head to guard, her mouth open to voice some question or worry, a shrill scream pierced through their ears.

"The princess!" Came the many shouts from the guards. Like a tidal wave, they broke from their watch and flooded outside, the guard that was supposed to be watching Danny included. Very few restrained themselves to stay within the castle walls. With one last glance at the Reaper, Sam ran out the door to follow.

But then, time stopped.

Sam looked incredulously at the guard at the end of the hall who had frozen in mid-stride. Somehow, her life had found a way to get even weirder than before. In front of her, stood an old man with bluish skin and a purple cape. He held a staff with a clock on the end and wore many others on various places. She almost fell over in shock when the old man turned into a young baby floating in the air.

"Startled?" The ghost questioned. Without waiting for an answer, he continued, "You have to need to be. I have come to warn you: if you don't find Danny, you'll never see him again." He turned into a middle aged man, disorienting her a little.

"Wait, what? But I do know where he is!" In his abrupt appearance and declaration, common sense deserted her, and the fact that she should demand his name escaped her thoughts. Too many odd things were happening all at once to care for every little detail.

"Do you?" His eyes twinkled with suppressed mirth.

"What do you mean, do I? That is _Danny_ in there!" She pointed into the room.

"Yes, but is it all of him?"

"Well, besides the chunk I tore out of him, I'm sure!" Her composure slipped, though she quickly regained it.

In a less teasing tone of voice, he said, "What lies there is not all there is to Danny. Think. What happened just a while ago that gave you pause? Has your trauma affected your memory?"

Sam's brow furrowed as she thought through the ghost's riddles. Then her face dawned with the realization. _The Danny in the picture. _The picture that Paulina had fawned over not too long ago.

"Yes, that's right. You need to find him. Danny can not exist apart from his other half for too long, and I am afraid that with his recent injury, the time has been cut down drastically." Sam opened her mouth, but the ghost beat her to it, as if he already knew what she was going to ask. "My name is Clockwork."

And with that, the ghost disappeared, ushering time in with his absence.

So Sam quickly slipped outside to find the source of the former disturbance while a hectic swirl of thoughts rolled around in her mind. There was one thought in particular that gave her pause.

She'd have to ask for help from Paulina.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Finally I've gotten this out! I'm sorry it's taken so long, but finals are really a killer. Studying and all that torture.

Please, please, please, please review! I beg you to review! Even if it's just a few words! (Although the more the better). Any type of review is appreciated!

Thanks so much!


End file.
